Flue-scraper



PATENTED FEB. 9, 1904.

J. ZILLIOX.

FLUE SURAPER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 5, 1903.

H0 MODEL.

wiz ne sffi f g Q. ma.

UNITED STATES Patented February 9, 1904.

J OHN ZILLIOX, OF BUFFALO, NEXV YORK.

FLUE-SCRAPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 751,708, dated February 9, 1904.

Application filed March 5, 1908.

To all wiwm, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN ZILLIOX, acitizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Eric and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Flue- Scrapers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a steam-boilerflue scraper of that kind in which the scraping blades or plates are carried by radially-mow able hinged arms and are yieldingly pressed outward against the interior surface of the flue by a spring device.

The object of the invention is to provide an efi icient, desirable, and practical flue-scraper of simple, strong, and inexpensive construction.

In the accoinpanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a flue-scraper embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation thereof in line 2 2, Fig. 3 Fig. 3 is an end elevation thereof. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through one of the scraper-blades and its arm.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

A represents a hinge block or hub to which the swinging arms B, carrying the scraperblades, are hinged by pins or bolts 6 passing through holes in the inner ends of the arms and hinge-lugs on the hub or in any other suitable manner. The hub is secured on the end of a rod or pipe C, which serves as the handle for manipulating the scraper. Each of the swinging arms is provided with a substantially sector-shaped scraper blade or plate D, the blades being so positioned on the arms that the side edges of the adjacent plates overlap, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the blades can be spread or expanded without separating at their meeting edges. In the construction shown the scraper blades or plates are secured to their supportingarms as follows, (see Fig. 4:) The outer end 0 of the arm is reduced, and the scraper-blade is provided with a hole through which the reduced end of the arm passes.

f f are clamping-sleeves which surround the reduced end of the arm on opposite sides of the scraper-blade. The inner end of the inner sleeve f abuts against a shoulder f on Serial No. 146,346. (No model.)

the arm. The outer end of the reduced portion 6 is threaded, and a nut f is screwed thereon, the nut serving to force the clampingsleeve together to tightly clamp the scraperblade between them. The clamping-sleeves are provided on their outer sides with longitudinal fins, which incline from the outer circular edge of the scraper-blade toward the arm and serve as guides or centering means when inserting the scraper into a fine. The inner end of the inner clamping-sleeve and the shoulder on the supporting-arm B are provided with interlocking portions f to prevent the sleeve from turning on the arm, and, if desired, the inner clamping-sleeve may be provided with a lug f which engages in a hole in the scraper-blade to prevent the latter from turning on its arm. This construction affords a simple and desirable means for rigidly a'nd detachably securing the scraper-blade on its arm and enables the use of a flat piece of sheet-steel for the scraper-blade. The blades are inexpensive and can be readily replaced when worn or broken at small cost.

G represents a rod or stem which is secured at its inner end centrally to the hub and projects longitudinally therefrom between the scraper-blades.

H represents a substantially pyramidalshaped wedge-block which is arranged to slide on the stem G. The inner edges of the scraperblades bear directly on the inclined faces of the wedge-block. The wedge-block is preferably arranged so that the angles joining its inclined faces engage in correspondingly shaped notches it in the inner edges of the scraper-blades. The wedge-block thus serves to prevent the blades from twisting and holds the scraper-arms against lateral displacement.

I represents a coil-spring surrounding the stem G and abutting at its inner end against the wedge-block and at its outer end against an adjusting-nut J, screwed on the threaded outer end of the stem G. The spring presses the wedge-block toward the hub, and its inclined faces force the scraper-blades outward and hold them yieldingly in contact with the internal surface of the flue, so that the flue is perfectly scraped and cleaned and the blades can yield when encountering obstructions or irregularities in the flue. The pressure of the blades against the flue can be regulated by increasing or decreasing the tension of the spring by means of the adjusting-nut J.

K represents an adjusting and stop collar for the swinging scraper-arms. In the construction illustrated this collar is screwed on a reduced threaded portion of the hub and is provided with a conical face in, bearing against the inner ends of the swinging arms,which project beyond the king-bolts for the arms. The adjusting collar is fashioned to receive a wrench or tool for turning it.

Vhen the scraper is to be used, the adjusting-collar K is screwed in or out, as necessary, until the circular scraper-disk formed by the sector-shaped blades is somewhat larger in diameter than the internal diameter of the flue into which it is to be inserted, and the regulating-nut for the wedge-spring is adjusted to place the desired spring pressure on the blades. The hinged arms are then pressed together by the operator and the scraper inserted in the flue. XV hen the scraper-blades become worn or the scraper is to be used in a flue of larger diameter, the adjusting-collar is turned to move it away from pivots for the arms and the regulating-nut for the wedgespring is turned to increase the tension of the spring and force the scraper-blades outward until they are stopped by the hinged ends of the arms contacting with the adjusting-collar.

By constructing the scraper as described all of the parts except the flat scraper-blades can be made of brass or other suitable metal which does not rust or corrode. The blades are readily detachable from their supporting-arms when it is necessary to replace broken or worn blades. As the scraper-blades are the only parts of the device which undergo any considerable wear and as they are of cheap construction and readily renewed, the life of the scraper is increased and the cost of the same in the end is reduced to the minimum. The wedgeblock arranged as described completely closes the opening or space between the inner edges of the scraper-blades, so that the soot or scale removed from the flue cannot get behind the scraper-blades and is completely removed from the flue.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of a handle, a hub secured thereto, scraper-arms hinged to said hub, sector-shaped scraper-blades secured to and arranged transversely of said arms, a stem secured to said hub and extending longitudinally between said scraper-blades, a wedgemounted to slide longitudinally on said stem and having inclined faces engaging the inner edges of said scraper-blades, and a spring which forces said wedge longitudinally of said stem against said scraper-blades, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a handle, a hub carried thereby, arms hinged to said hub and provided with scapers, a stem secured to said hub and extending longitudinally between said arms, a wedge mounted to slide longitudinally on said stem and having inclined faces engaging parts on said scraper-arms, a spring which forces said wedge longitudinally of said stem against said parts on the scraper-arms, and a nut screwed on said stem for regulating the pressure of said spring on said wedge, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a handle, a hub secured thereto, arms hinged to said hub and provided with transversely-arranged scraperblades, a stem secured to said hub and extending longitudinally between the inner edges of said scraper-blades, a pyramidal shaped wedge-block slidably mounted on said stem,

a nut screwed on said stem, a spring surrounding said stem between said wedge-block and said nut, and a screw-collar on said hub and bearing against the hinged ends of said arms, substantially as set forth.

4. In a flue-scraper, an arm having a reduced end portion, clamping-sleeves on said reduced portion, a scraper-blade on said reduced portion of the arm between said clamping-sleeves, and a nut screwed on the reduced portion of the arm for forcing said sleeves and blades together to secure the latter firmly on the arm, substantially as set forth.

Witness my hand this 27th day of February, 1 903.

JOHN ZILLIOX. Witnesses:

JNO. J. BONNER, CLAUDIA M. BENTLEY. 

